CLEARFIELD – The last of several men accused of being involved in a conspiracy to assault and rob a man was sentenced to state prison Monday.
The charges stem from an incident on Oct. 6, 2023 at a Powell Avenue residence in Hyde where the man was attacked, police say.
One of the defendants reportedly admitted that they targeted the victim because they knew he had drugs. A bag containing 21.75 grams of crystal methamphetamine was recovered from one of the suspects.
On Monday, Jason Roy Sipe, 44, of Hyde pleaded guilty to robbery, conspiracy/theft by unlawful taking, unlawful restraint and possessing instruments of a crime before President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman, who sentenced him to serve 30 months to seven years in state prison.
Sipe also pleaded guilty in an unrelated second case to misdemeanor make repairs/offensive weapons for which he was given a concurrent period of five months to three years in state prison.
It was noted by his attorney, Joseph Ryan, that Sipe was willing to cooperate with the investigation.
The criminal complaint details how the victim was driving around with Bradley Alan Maines, 47, of Woodland and Paul Harold Hoyt, 35, of Curwensville, before they went to the Hyde residence where Maines met with Hoyt.
Once on-scene, Maines exited the victim’s truck and talked with Hoyt as they walked around the property.
After the victim got out of the vehicle, he said two men came from behind him, striking him in the legs/shin area with baseball bats, he told officials.
They assaulted him and ordered him to take off his clothes before robbing him and forcing him to leave.
The victim explained how he ran and hid on a property near Riverview Road. There he found a box near a church with clothing, which he put on to “make himself look decent.” After this, he went to a nearby home for help.
He said he did not know who the two men that attacked him were as they were wearing masks. Later he named Sipe and John L. Irwin, 40, as suspects.
In his interview with police, Sipe said there were “issues” between Irwin and the victim based on an incident involving Irwin’s girlfriend. He said Irwin told him to grab the wooden bat and stand there while he had the metal bat.
When Sipe was asked why he would listen to Irwin, he said he owed him drug money.
Sipe admitted the whole incident was “over drugs” because the victim had been selling them.
While investigating the incident that night, a police officer spotted Taylor James Wisor, 36, of Hyde and Hoyt, who was wanted by state parole, in Wisor’s vehicle as it entered the Hyde car wash and stopped in a manual wash bay. Hoyt was in the passenger seat.
Wisor consented to a search of his vehicle where police found a wooden bat on the floor of the back seat. They also found the victim’s cell phone and case. Hoyt had a knife, saw and an ounce of methamphetamine.
The victim’s truck was driven to Mann Road by Hoyt and left there, Wisor told investigators.
Wisor pleaded guilty in September to felony counts of criminal conspiracy/theft by unlawful taking and possessing instruments of crime before Ammerman who gave him a sentence of 12 months to four years in state prison. He must also pay over $800 in restitution to the victim.
Wisor pleaded guilty in three additional cases to retail theft, fleeing or attempting to elude police and driving under the influence, giving him a total sentence of 18 months to six years in state prison.
In August, Hoyt was sentenced to six months to two years in state prison for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Hoyt also pleaded guilty in two other cases to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance for which he was given an additional sentence of three months to one year in state prison.
In July, Irwin pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve three to six years in state prison for felony counts of conspiracy/theft by unlawful taking, and theft by unlawful taking, as well as misdemeanor unlawful restraint, terroristic threats and possessing instruments of crime.
Charges against Maines were withdrawn because Maines was not directly involved in the assault or robbery, according to a representative of the district attorney’s office.